A vessel was seen listing at anchor 24 nautical miles northwest of Port Rashid in the United Arab Emirates, possibly indicating water ingress after being hit by a projectile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

UKMTO said the incident was reported by a third party.

Oil vessel transit costs through the Strait of Hormuz have escalated significantly after the Iran war, led by a sharp climb in additional war risk premiums and cargo insurance costs, an executive from Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) said.

Cargo insurance is now a considerable percentage of the value of the cargo being shipped, according to ENOC director Paul Bradshaw.

Several merchant vessels in the northern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman were hit by disabling fire during military activity in the region, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

UKMTO said it was unable to confirm any casualties or environmental impact.

British foreign minister Ed Miliband condemned as "regrettable and damaging" Israel's decision to order the closure of the the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem as retaliation for London-led Western sanctions over illegal Israeli settler violence.

"We anticipated this might happen because we saw other countries, the Dutch, for example, who had announced sanctions, who had seen these reprisals from Israel. I think they're regrettable and damaging," Miliband told BBC Radio.

South Korea has said it is consulting the US, France and Britain on possible contributions to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open but will decide any involvement based on its national interests and public consensus, rather than external pressure.

“Recognising the importance of stability in the strait, we will determine how to contribute based on our national interests and public consensus,” South Korean President Lee Jae-myung told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron during a two-hour meeting in Paris.

The discussion, however, did not presuppose a military contribution or troop deployment in the strait amid continued US pressure.

“We have not narrowed down what form our contribution could take. That means we are not yet debating combat versus noncombat options. The discussion did not move the review forward.”

A fire on a marine vessel in Qatar has been brought under control with no injuries reported, the Qatari Interior Ministry said, as tensions between Iran and the US continue to escalate across the Gulf region.

The ministry said civil defence teams responded to the fire at Al Wakrah port and brought it under control.

No further details were immediately provided on the cause of the fire, the type of vessel involved or the extent of any damage.

Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence said the danger in Khamis Mushait had passed, after earlier issuing alerts warning of a potential threat.

Yemen's Houthis said on Tuesday they had attacked an airbase in the area, which lies in the south of the kingdom.

Dozens of South Koreans urged their government not to deploy troops to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, slamming what they called Washington's "illegal war".

US President Donald Trump has pressured ally South Korea to help in the Middle East war, which has seen Iran take a stranglehold on the strait key to global oil supplies.

"We cannot send our young people into a sea of death!" chanted the protesters, who numbered about 60 according to an AFP estimate, on the steps outside Seoul's Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it attacked 10 vessels attempting to cross what it described as a “prohibited and unsafe” area of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reports.

The IRGC said the vessels included two US ships and eight oil tankers, claiming the attacks were carried out in retaliation for US strikes on five Iranian tankers.

The claims have not been independently confirmed, and the US and shipping authorities reported no immediate damage or casualties.

A merchant vessel was involved in a security incident linked to ongoing military activity in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said.

In an advisory, UKMTO said it had received a report of a merchant vessel in the strategic waterway that was "subject to interaction as part of ongoing military activity in the region."

The advisory did not identify the vessel, specify casualties, or give further details about the nature of the interaction.

"Authorities are aware, and relevant investigations remain ongoing," UKMTO said, advising mariners "to consider the latest maritime security information and maintain awareness of the evolving operational environment."